W. Soccer Takes on Pros

Last Saturday, the Women's United Soccer Association drew 34,148 fans for its inaugural game between Mia Hamm's Washington Freedom and Brandi Chastain's Bay Area Cyber Rays. Yesterday at Ohiri Field, the Harvard women's soccer team served as the final tune-up for the Boston Breakers, one of six WUSA teams waiting for their turn in the spotlight this weekend.

The Breakers defeated Harvard, 1-0, to close out its exhibition schedule. They also blew out Boston College 5-0 immediately before taking on the Crimson.

"We had a pretty good day," said Harvard Coach Tim Wheaton. "There was just nothing to lose today. We just had some fun and tested ourselves against some of the best players in the world. As women's soccer players and supporters of the game, we couldn't be more excited that the Breakers exist to play."

Harvard fielded most of its regular players and its soon-to-be-departing seniors. The Breakers-who mostly sat U.S. National Team members Kristine Lilly and Kate Sobrero-got the majority of scoring chances on the day, yet still managed to put just one of them into the net.

"We did everything we had to do-just run around, work hard and put them under some pressure," Wheaton said. "We had a couple of chances, we dodged a bunch of bullets, but that's the way it is."

Plays such as one where sophomore forward Joey Yenne maneuvered craftily through two Breaker defenders deep in the box drew the respect of the Breaker bench.

"[Harvard] looked good," said Lilly, whose 225 caps and 87 goals scored rank first and third, respectively, on the U.S. National Team's all-time charts. "It's great to play these college teams. It gives them something to shoot for, and it helps us to play these games instead of just playing against each other."

The Breakers will open their schedule on Saturday at the Carolina Courage. All of the team's games will be broadcast live on ATT3-Channel Three on local cable. CNNSI and TNT, which televised the league opener, will continue to broadcast games on national television throughout the season.

"If you are interested in soccer, it's going to be great soccer," Lilly said. "If you watch some of the games, [you'll see] the top international players and the top American players. We have the best players in the world, so there's no reason why you shouldn't [watch] unless you don't like soccer."

The Breakers will play their home games at Boston University's Nickerson Field, just a few miles down the river from Ohiri Field. Nickerson's AstroTurf surface has been replaced by a more soccer-friendly FieldTurf surface.

"They just laid [the FieldTurf] down, is what I hear," Lilly said. "Ideally you always want to play on grass, but the FieldTurf they're going to have-we've practiced on the same thing, and it's great. It's really soft, just like grass."

The home opener will be Saturday night on May 5th against the Atlanta Beat. According to Breakers Public Relations Director Marci Tyldesley, the team has nearly sold out 10,000-plus seats for the opener and hopes to average at least 7,000 for the course of the season.

Of the four Harvard players invited to WUSA training camps last month, both Jessica Larson `00 and Ashley Berman `00 will have to put their pro soccer hopes on hold. Beth Zotter `00 and Emily Stauffer `98-`99 are both still with the New York Power organization.

2000 Harvard Assistant Coach Carrie Moore is a defender on the Washington Freedom roster.

Stauffer's stock has risen rapidly since she joined the team's training camp after missing the inaugural league combine draft last December due to Teach for America commitments. She has a good chance of starting in the defensive midfield alongside national team defender Sara Whalen.

Zotter-the Power's fourth-round draft choice last December-fell short of making the team's 20-player roster, but she is one of three players on the team's reserve squad. Reserve players practice with their teams but do not travel or play in any of their teams' regular season games.

"[Zotter] is there with a chance to play her way onto the regular squad," Wheaton said. "She's there with a shot-that's all you can ask for. She's a professional soccer player. When she played in high school she never dreamed there would be a professional league, so she's very excited about it."

Had the WUSA never existed, Zotter would have gone as far as Japan to play professional soccer. But thanks to rapid growth of women's soccer in the United States, the WUSA is here. And if the early returns are any indication, the league is here to stay.

"34,000 people watching a women's professional game-that's awesome," Wheaton said. "I think it will be a great success."